Local News

Plenty of moisture for crops

South Platte Basin snowpack 147%

By Dan Barker

Times News Editor

Posted:
03/13/2014 04:00:00 PM MDT

Morgan County is in the best shape it has been for many years in terms of soil moisture and readiness for planting crops.

While much of the state is considered to be in one level of drought or another, most of Northeast Colorado and the South Platte River Basin stand apart as areas not affected by drought - at least for now.

The basin's snowpack sits at 147 percent of the median snowpack for this time of year, according to the Colorado snowpack update map.

The National Drought Mitigation Center says that Morgan, Logan and Weld counties are not in any kind of a drought right now, although the western part of Colorado and areas east of Morgan County are considered abnormally dry.

The southeast corner of the state is considered to be generally in a severe drought, with the center of that section in extreme and exceptional drought as of the beginning of last week.

However, Morgan County is looking so much better this spring than in the last several years, said extension agent Marlin Eisenach.

Growers are finally going into spring with some submoisture, which has been short in recent years, he said. Of course, farmers can always use more moisture.

In addition, area reservoirs are at capacity, which means the season is starting off right, Eisenach said.

Wheat will be coming out of dormancy soon, and the soil moisture will help it thrive, Eisenach said.

Moisture also helps protect the soil from wind erosion, he said.

Wind that usually comes in the spring can definitely affect the top soil, drying it out quickly, so what growers experience will depend on the weather in following weeks, Eisenach said.